Learning guitar and bass, which one first?

[Ħ]

So I've decided I'm gonna do it.  I'm gonna be more musical

I've got all the instruments on my to-do list--guitar, bass, drums, piano, and singing.  Maybe some woodwinds like saxophone down the line.

Now, drums and piano are out simply because they are to big.  Singing is out because as of now, I don't know how to sing, and I'll need to constantly pay for lessons, so that's out.

So it's guitar and bass.  I have picked up both of them in the past, but didn't take them very far.  Now that it's been more than a year-and-a-half since I've played, what do you experts recommend I do?

[wolfking]

Guitar.

[SPNKr]

Guitar.

[PlaysLikeMyung]

Bass, you nubs

[wolfking]

Bass, you nubs

Pfffft...

[dethklok09]

well the question is are you looking to get girls or not. if your playing progressive though it doesnt matter

[Gorille85]

Acoustic guitar is definitely a good starting point for any music n00b. I like both, though.

[sneakyblueberry]

I'd say guitar.  Once you learn barre chord shapes you'll know the theory behind how a chord is built, which will make it a bit eaiser once you start on bass. 

I reckon you should just stick with learning one instrument though.  A jack of all trades is a master of none

[Algo Fonix]

Bass, you nubs

[Rina]

I'd definitely say Bass.

[Ħ]

So right now it's:

Guitar - 4
Bass - 3

Hmmm....

Being a woodwind player, I am more used to the single-note-at-a-time aspect of bass.  I never learned piano, so thinking in terms of chords and playing multiple notes at once is really weird for me.

[skydivingninja]

Bass. 

[Bombardana]

Bass

[robwebster]

So right now it's:

Guitar - 4
Bass - 3

Hmmm....

Being a woodwind player, I am more used to the single-note-at-a-time aspect of bass.  I never learned piano, so thinking in terms of chords and playing multiple notes at once is really weird for me.

All the more reason to start with guitar.

I'm an atrocious guitarist, I wish I was better at it. I'm quite an experienced bassist, but I think if I'd kicked off with guitar I'd possibly be better still. I'm currently learning piano, so all this chord stuff is only just now becoming natural.

It'll be a more gradual progression, starting with bass, but I think learning guitar would teach you a lot more about music. On piano I'm only just getting to grips with a lot of things that I wish I'd learnt a long long time ago.

Once you've learnt multiple instruments it does tend to make other ones easier, too. So I think the diversity of guitar would do you a world of good.

[Marvellous G]

This might offend some bassists, but I reckon being good at guitar will make learning bass easier than it would be the other way round.

[Ħ]

Why do you reckon that?

[PlaysLikeMyung]

Don't listen to him

Bass rulez

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Guitar and whatever you do, do not start off with an acoustic guitar.  Heavier strings and a slightly shorter neck will make it a little more difficult on your hands.

[Ħ]

Guitar and whatever you do, do not start off with an acoustic guitar.  Heavier strings and a slightly shorter neck will make it a little more difficult on your hands.

I agree that that is probably true, but isn't it better to start with something hard so that the easy things are even easier?  For example, you don't start by playing keyboard--you start by playing piano to get used to the weight.

And didn't JP learn how to play guitar on a violin?

[Marvellous G]

Why do you reckon that?

Because you can just start learning basslines on guitar and you'll be able to do them easily if you've learnt guitar (except slap or pop stuff) whereas if you tried to learn guitar parts after only learning bass it will be a whole new skillset.

This isn't just me saying this, I learnt guitar first and I can pick up a bass and play loads of songs fine without any practice on it. I'm sure trying it the other way round would be impossible.

[Jakartabassplayer]

Bass, you nubs

[juice]

Guitar.

[Adami]

Guitar first.



But don't play the bass like a guitar. It's a very different instrument.

[ZBomber]

Guitar first.



But don't play the bass like a guitar. It's a very different instrument.

This. My friend is a guitarist and he writes and plays his basslines like a guitar. It just doesn't work like that.

[MykeHavoc]

I learned guitar first. You can apply all the music theory to the bass after.

[Gorille85]

This bass. Now.

[Adami]

If it was a 5 or even 6 string bass, then maybe. Cause the color/woods are sexy as cunt.

But 9 strings? That's just way too many.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Guitar and whatever you do, do not start off with an acoustic guitar.  Heavier strings and a slightly shorter neck will make it a little more difficult on your hands.

I agree that that is probably true, but isn't it better to start with something hard so that the easy things are even easier?  For example, you don't start by playing keyboard--you start by playing piano to get used to the weight.

And didn't JP learn how to play guitar on a violin?

I see what you're saying, but I figure the less obstacles you can have on your way to guitar proficiency, the better.  If my favorite video game was 10x harder, I'd likely have quit it altogether and not bothered trying to master it.  Same here.  Once you've gotten proficient at it, then your hands are up for taking on an acoustic.  Playing acoustic regularly then, will be an excellent way to keep your hands in shape for playing the electric.

[Dr. DTVT]

I think it depends on what you want to do, but I think guitar would be better.  You can teach yourself a lot of music theory on guitar, and with guitar you can work on both the rhythm and lead aspects, so if you get bored with one method you can work on the other for a while.

[AwakeFromOctavarium]

I say guitar. When you learn guitar, you pretty much learn bass as well. I don't know if it works the other way though.

But if you're gonna play bass, please do finger bass. Picking bass really turns me off unless it's for experimentation or something.

[BRGM]

Bass is very easy to play, but it takes some time to learn to play it good, guitar on the other hand is easier

[sneakyblueberry]

Listen to all the people telling you to do guitar.  It just makes more sense theory-wise.

[bodiesinflight]

Totally depends on what you want to do. Bass is an easier instrument to get the basics of but much harder than guitar to get really good at.

The great thing about guitar is that even if you find yourself unable to play your favourite songs you can always come up with something interesting on it yourself, no matter how skillful you actually are.

[ScioPath]

It depends. Are you looking at this from a purely musical standpoint? Are you a hobbyist, or someone who's looking to get serious. In this era, it's better to be a bass player, only because there are so many guitarists out there. Guitar players, if they're not drop dead amazing, may never get to be in a band.

[sneakyblueberry]

A couple of people have said it; What's the reasoning behind bass being harder to master than the guitar?  I would think the guitar is easily the more difficult of the two, way more techniques and nuances involved.  The hardest thing to learn with bass would be groove, which comes automatically if you're lucky enough to be born black :tard

It depends. Are you looking at this from a purely musical standpoint? Are you a hobbyist, or someone who's looking to get serious. In this era, it's better to be a bass player, only because there are so many guitarists out there. Guitar players, if they're not drop dead amazing, may never get to be in a band.

Very true.  Bass players are a dying breed in hot demand.